The "It" Shoe?

designs by Marloes Ten Bhomer

As fashion’s elite stormed the various fashion capitals of the world in February, it became obvious that the era of the it bag had passed and a new era, that of the it shoe, was about to begin. According to Suzy Menkes of International Herald Tribune, “shoes are out to steal the limelight, with mighty platforms, carved heels, cages of straps and all sorts of decoration, from feathers to beading.”

Indeed, the term “shoeporn” has been adopted into fashion-blog-speak and Tommy Ton of Jak&Jil frequently takes up-close pictures of not just fashionable people, but their shoes. Indeed, BARE’s own Connie Wang coined the term bookending or “the style phenomenon that states that the easiest way to look amazing is to have fly hair and wear fly shoes.” And with all the styles – from Yves Saint Laurent’s cage boot to Balmain’s infamous stud-jeweled heels – there are plenty of styles with which one can book-end and look fabulous.

But what constitutes an “it” shoe? Designer Marloes Ten Bhomer is known for challenging the norms of construction techniques and designing shoes that are closer to architecture than something you would walk around in. at what point does looking chic and “less generic” (as the designer describes her product) cross into straight up discomfort? No one wants to have a Naomi Campbell moment on sproul, but these shoes would definitely make you stand out in a crowd. So, would you wear these?

2 comments:

Holy crap. I'm trying to figure out whether these would be the ultimate in comfort or just straight up wacky. I remember Posh's heeless mega-boots. Does anyone know where a real human being can actually try something like this on? I would LOVE to take a stroll around a shoe store in these, just for the experience even!

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